गृहस्थाश्रमः, भिक्षुकाश्रमःThe householder and the renunciant
Verse 10
भैक्षुकेऽप्याश्रमे देवि वेदोक्तं दण्डधारणम् । कलौ नास्त्येव तत्त्वज्ञे यतस्तत् श्रौतसंस्कृतिः ॥ १० ॥
bhaikṣukē’pyāśramē dēvi vēdōktaṁ daṇḍadhāraṇam | kalau nāstyēva tattvajñē yatastat śrautasaṁskṛtiḥ || 10 ||
Translation
In the mendicant's stage too, Devī, the carrying of the staff taught in the Veda does not exist at all in the Kali age, knower of truth, since it is a Vedic sacrament.
Word by word
- bhaikṣukē
- in the mendicant's
- api
- too
- āśramē
- stage
- dēvi
- O Devī
- vēda
- in the Veda
- uktaṁ
- taught
- daṇḍa
- of the staff
- dhāraṇam
- the carrying
- kalau
- in the Kali age
- na
- not
- asti
- exists
- ēva
- at all
- tattvajñē
- O knower of truth
- yatas
- (yataḥ) since
- tat
- it
- śrauta
- Vedic
- saṁskṛtiḥ
- a sacrament
Meaning
The same applies to the renunciant. The classical saṃnyāsin of the Vedic tradition receives a staff (daṇḍa) at his initiation, and the "staff-bearing" renunciation (daṇḍi-saṃnyāsa) is a Vedic rite. Because, the commentary says, that taking of the staff is a śrauta saṃskāra, a sacrament of the Veda, it too lapses in the Kali age. The next verse says what takes its place.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
In the Kali age, not only in the householder's āśrama are all Vedic rites forbidden, but in the mendicant's āśrama too: so he says "bhaikṣuke 'pi…". Tat: that, the carrying of the staff prescribed in the Veda. Śrauta-saṃskṛtiḥ: a Vedic sacrament.